


never enough time

by funkyfreshgod



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Dimension Travel, F/F, Time Loop, Time Shenanigans, hanna is alive bish, harold thinks they're crazy for trying this, john encourages it, root is really gay, shaw is really hungry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-28 23:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7660927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funkyfreshgod/pseuds/funkyfreshgod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're crazy," Shaw muttered around a mouthful of burger.</p><p>Root gave her a giant smile.</p><p>"Oh sweetie, I already knew that."</p><p>----------</p><p>Or, more appropriately, Root is a time traveling college student with issues and Shaw is just really really hungry and tired of high school cafeteria food.</p><p>[first three chapters set it up; fourth chapter begins main plot]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. keep track

**Author's Note:**

> idk what this is all i know is it's gayyy

In Bishop, Texas, you wind up as one of two things: bored or tired.

Bishop had a lot of things that could be good, but they never really were.

Sleepy atmosphere? Check. Outdated library? Check. Cranky teenager up at the crack of dawn trying to hack into a high school database? Check.

That was probably why Samantha Groves and Hanna Frey disappeared.

\----------

"SAM!"

There it was.

Either Root's salvation or her downfall. She really didn't know which.

Hanna Frey, Root's all-time, hands-down, utterly beautiful best friend, was busy slamming things around their shared apartment.

This meant one of two things: angry or hungry.

Root peeked out her door. "Hanna, why are you up so early?"

"Food, Sam, food," Hanna muttered as she dug through the fridge. "Need food."

Root shrugged and came out of her room. Couldn't hurt to join her. "What's cooking?"

Hanna looked up from her spot next to the fridge. "Probably some weird pasta dish I found online. Totally didn't go shopping for it though. Gonna taste..."

She paused.

"...Interesting."

\----------

Sameen Shaw did not want to move to... wherever this was.

But she had to.

After driving cross-country with her mother to escape weird assassin guys, Shaw had been forced to go her separate way.

Her mother thought it would be safer that way.

She was wrong.

And now, Shaw was stuck riding in a cab to wherever-the-heck, Florida, to live with two apparently insane roommates.

Fun stuff.

She had no idea.


	2. out of touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> root and shaw finally meet.
> 
> root is flirty.
> 
> shaw is hungry.
> 
> hanna is going to slap someone.
> 
> we meet someone... fun...
> 
> all in all, i really like where this story is going so far. not all fun 'n' games, though, so prep your popcorn for the drama.

_"Whatever happened to that Groves girl?"_

_"No one knows... Some say she was kidnapped. I think she ran off. Couldn't handle real life, y'know?"_

_"Yeah... sure..."_

\----------

**[DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?]**

The cursor hovered over "YES", but Root still didn't click. What if she had missed a line? What if--

No.

There was no time for that.

She clicked "YES" and watched as the program began to run.

_Flawless._

Or as flawless as over one hundred lines of code typed in computer science could be. Root continued to watch her hard work pay off. This could work.

She heard wheels rolling in her direction, but didn't bother to turn around. She knew who it was.

" _Mon dieu , vous êtes intelligent..._ "

Root smirked.

"Geez, Moreau, didn't know you were jealous," she said with a chuckle.

She finally turned to look at her company: Moreau, the constantly-eating-something, half-french girl with a penchant for ignoring her own allergies, was sitting in a rolling chair (what she referred to as " _le fauteuil maudit_ ") and giving Root a look.

A look which either meant "time to joke around and hack into our professor's computer" or "something's about to go down".

"What's up, Mo?" Root asked, shutting down her laptop.

"Okay, so like, listen... I overheard someone say that there's a weird person who's been wandering around campus. Kinda acting like they own the place, you know? Well, so I heard that they're here to recruit. And you know what they're recruiting in?" Mo leaned in conspiratorially. "Coding..."

"Hm."

"Geez, Root, don't act so excited."

"I won't."

\----------

Root was sitting on a bench out in front of their apartment, doing something... probably illegal.

Hanna knew that to sneak up on Root you had to go on her right side. Maybe if she just...

"Hey, Hanna."

Hanna rolled her eyes. Of course it wouldn't be that simple.

She sat next to Root on the bench.

"So, our dear Mo told me about this thing you're thinking of doing."

Root huffed. "Of course she would."

"She worries about you, Sam," Hanna said softly. "We all do."

"She had enough to worry about on her own... Have you seen the dark circles around her eyes? She's practically an insomniac now and I'm partially to blame. After all, I am the one that introduced her to coding in the first place," Root rambled. "And of course there's someone looking for a code expert, when in--"

Hanna smacked a hand over Root's mouth. "Okay, that's enough, Samantha. Let's go. You're gonna eat a good meal and then you're gonna tell me your game plan for talking to this mysterious stranger."

Root nodded.

\----------

Hanna's idea of a good meal was eight boxes of boxed mac n cheese and a single green bean.

"So, how're you gonna approach this mysterious person? Oh my gosh, what if it's not a person? What if it's a robot? Like in--"

"Hanna. It's not gonna be a robot."

Hanna glared at her. "Way to ruin my dreams, Groves."

Root rolled her eyes.

But of course, something had to ruin the moment.

**BANG**

"What the f--!" 

The door to their apartment slammed open, followed by a girl falling into the room. 

"Uh..." Root gulped. 

This girl was the most beautiful being she had ever seen... sprawled out on her shag carpet. 

"Little help here?" the girl asked. 

"Sure thing, sweetie." Ooooohh, that slipped out unexpectedly. 

Root winced at herself and held out a hand for the girl to grab onto. She did and Root immediately froze. Talk about hormones. 

"So... you two are my new roommates?" 

"Uhhh..." 

Hanna saved the day, as usual. 

"Yes! I'm Hanna Frey, and this is S-- Root. And you are?" 

The girl brushed off her pants and looked up at Hanna and Root. 

"Sameen Shaw." 

Root was dead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay
> 
>  
> 
> [my tumblr](%E2%80%9Dwww.funkyfreshgod.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)
> 
>  
> 
> feel free to yell. scream. cry. whatever it is you people do.
> 
> you can totally come cry with me over how root deserved so much better.


	3. the great ballad of hall & oates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Shaw cooks, a man in a suit comes knocking, and Root is pathetic?
> 
> THIS CHAPTER.
> 
> What happens when you put Root and Shaw together on a "date", give Moreau a laptop, and hand Hanna a spatula with no context?
> 
> THE EVENTS OF NEXT CHAPTER!
> 
> [major plot points are put into play next chapter.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so like hayley kiyoko saved me...
> 
> listened to it while writing this and doing exams simultaneously, so yeah.
> 
> enjoy, my friends.

_"Still no traces?"_

_"No."_

_"Shame."_

_"Wha--"_

\----------

Root was busy in her room.

Hyperventilating.

"Oh my GOD, she's hot."

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

"SHUT UP, HANNA!"

Shaw had gone out to grab something for dinner for all of them, which was a good thing, since Root had been yelling various expletives in combination with how hot their new roommate was.

Hanna threw open Root's door, walked over to where Root was laying face-down on her bed, and dragged her out.

"You are gonna sit in the kitchen like a normal person and wait for Shaw to get back."

Root sighed. "Someday I will touch those probably rock-hard abs an--"

"OKAY! YOU'RE GONNA GO WAIT OUTSIDE!"

\----------

And that was how Root wound up sitting outside the apartment door, staring at her phone (the neighbors were watching Netflix and their account was just _too_ easy to hack...), and pining over Shaw's rock-hard abs.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Speak of the devil...

Root looked up, swallowing thickly. "Uh, well... you see, Hanna made me wait out here."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Root shrugged. She decided to be honest, because why not? "Probably because of my pining."

Shaw's brow furrowed.

"Wait... pining...?" Shaw's face lit up with recognition. "Wait a second..."

At that moment, Hanna threw open the door, grabbed both Root and Shaw, and dragged them inside.

"Good! You're home! Kinda need that dinner up and going fast!"

Shaw rolled her eyes. "Chill, Hanna. I may be new here, but I got this."

Hanna clapped her hands together. "Good! Now, remember, S-- Root, about that thing we were going to talk about? Maybe our new roommate could help shed some light on how reckless it is!"

Shaw walked over to the stove and began prepping the food.

"Do tell," she said, twirling around a spatula in her hand.

Root huffed. "Okay, so there's this person on campus who wants code experts and computer specialists for some project they're doing. Nobody's ever met the person, so it's all really shady-sounding, but I hear there's some serious money involved, so..."

Shaw nodded.

She turned towards Root and Hanna. "Well, do you want my opinion?" she asked.

Root nodded.

"Do it."

Hanna groaned.

Root grinned.

Shaw smirked.

"Fine, then," Hanna muttered. "Do the dumb thing... if you get killed, it's not my fault."

"Oh, Han, there's nothing to be worried about... I'm already technically dead, remember?" Root said with a smirk and a chuckle.

Shaw dropped the spatula.

"Oh did I forget to mention that?" Hanna said sheepishly. "Really should look throu--"

"An explanation would be just _great_ ," Shaw said slowly, addressing Root, "as to why you're technically dead, and why she keeps messing up your name."

"You want the long version or the short version?" Root asked. "Because the short version's pretty much a compilation and the long version just involves a sob story and a lot of tears from this one." She jerked a thumb at Hanna.

Shaw looked over at Hanna, who shrugged. "I can't help it. It gets me every time."

"Okay, we'll go with short then."

\----------

After about five minutes of trying to get her story in order, Root finally spilled the beans.

"Okay, so long-story-short, I was a kid living in Bishop, Texas named Samantha Groves, I had to rescue Hanna from a pedophile, who I accidentally killed, no one believed us, my mother died, and then I left Bishop because people thought I was insane and they wanted to separate Han and I, but I was like 'nope' and just got the hell outta there with Hanna and forged my own death certificate. And there you go."

Shaw coughed. "Um..."

"I forged my own death certificate," Hanna said proudly. "Took forever, but I did it."

Shaw kept staring at Root in a weird way.

"So... enough about us. How about you? Where do you go to college?" Hanna asked.

"Wait... you guys do realize I'm sixteen, right?" Shaw asked.

Root nearly died again.

\----------

"I. AM. AN. IDIOT."

Root was whispering fiercely to Hanna in her room, using the excuse of "Hanna's rash problem" as a way to get out of the kitchen.

"No, you aren't. You didn't make a move on her... did you?" Hanna looked horrified.

"No, but I told her I was pining..."

"Geez... God, Sam, you really are pathetic."

"Thank you."

At that moment, they heard a loud thump, followed by a "HA!"

Root ran out of the room to find Shaw standing over a man in a suit, who was currently clutching his stomach.

Hanna followed Root out and noticed the man. She grimaced. "Shaw..."

Shaw handed Hanna the spatula (which was spattered with what looked to be blood) and grabbed Root's hand. "Come on, Root, we've got somewhere to be."

Root couldn't help herself. "Oh, is this a date?" she blurted out.

"Sure, Root, sure."

Oh, poor Root.

She was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO GAY


	4. is it too late?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Shaw and Root go on a "date", we find out who "the guy" is, Hanna is stuck in a corner with a spatula, and Root's problems are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY.
> 
> I kinda vamoosed to like my friend's house for three weeks and I got back and my brain was fried, soooo...
> 
> here.

_"What if she comes back, sir?"  
"We'll know... Oh, we'll know... And we'll be prepared this time..."_

\-----

As Shaw dragged Root out of the apartment, Hanna was left standing over an unconscious man's body.

"Oh SH--"

"MISS FREY!"

Hanna panicked. Mrs. Raff from 3B was coming down the hall and she had some weird guy lying face-down on her carpet and she was holding a bloody spatula. 

Hanna dragged the guy over to the coat closet, threw him in, and shut the door, sighing with relief in the process.

"MISS FREY?!"

Oh she was dead.

Hanna tucked the spatula into her back pocket and went to go talk to the dreaded neighbor.

\-----

"Soooo... what's up?"

"Seriously... Root..."

Root shrugged, stuffing her hands in her hoodie pockets. "I mean, it's not everyday your new roommate knocks out cold a random stranger, so I'm kinda curious."

Shaw stared straight ahead as she and Root walked along the sidewalk, heading towards Shaw's favorite restaurant... in this town... city... whatever-the-heck-this-place-was.

"Listen... that guy was just an... old-ish friend. He was just checking up on me, I bet. I kinda clocked him before I got an answer."

"Why's that?"

"Why's what?"

"Why'd you clock him?"

"I thought he was someone else..."

"And why is that?"

Shaw grimaced. "You know how you have a whole weird backstory thing going on? Well..."

Root grinned maniacally and clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is too good..."

Shaw grunted. "It's kind of a long story..."

Root's grin widened. "Do tell..."

\-----

After Hanna narrowly escaped being convicted of murder, she ran into another problem...

Rachel Moreau, Root's friend, was walking up the staircase that lead up to their apartment floor.

_"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP--"_

Hanna had so many problems right now.

\-----

"So, as it turns out, I'm on the run from the government- kinda- and I'm apparently assumed dead, thanks to my knocked-out buddy and his computer-savvy boyfriend, who thinks I need a vacation... Apparently, going to high school in a new town is considered a vacation."

Root listened intently, slurping on lo mein as Shaw explained her story.

"I kinda used to work for this group called ISA, which dealt with these things called 'relevant numbers' and either killed them or protected them. Nine times out of ten, we killed 'em. After my partner found out that probably half of the ones we were told to kill were innocent, he was killed by the same people that we worked for. I got out... somehow... and John and Harold, my friends, helped me stage my own death. It worked. I really don't understand how. But now, I have a feeling my old employer, Control, knows I'm still alive."

Root swallowed. "And why do you think that?"

"Because I got this in the mail today... From your mailbox..." Shaw said, handing over a pristine, crisp postcard.

Root took it and turned it over. On the front there was a picture of some generic-looking mountains. On the back there was a single sentence, followed by a number. "'Your number is up,'" Root read. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"My social security number came up. On the thing they use to predict when crimes are about to happen," Shaw said, taking the postcard back and glaring at it.

"Oh, you mean the Machine."

Shaw blinked.

"Wait, what?"

\-----

"So... care to explain why you have a dude in your closet?"

"........No........."

\-----

"How the hell do you know what the Machine is?"

Root rolled her eyes. "I just do. Can't explain it. I also know that a representative of the Machine, a Miss Thornhill, is hanging around my college."

Shaw's eyes bugged. "Wait... Thornhill's here? Oh, man, we're screwed."

"Why?"

"Thornhill works with John and Harold..."

\-----

"Why is that spatula so bloody?"

"Really...... Don't ask......"

\-----

"If Thornhill knows I'm here, then that means that Control knows I'm here. Thornhill only shows up when there are real problems. She comes to warn me and the guys..." Shaw said, while clenching and un-clenching her fist.

Root raised an eyebrow. "Well... damn..."

"Yeah."

At that moment, a glass came hurtling towards the two of them. Root immediately grabbed Shaw and concentrated.

Sure enough, she was able to get it to work.

"Root...?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"You'll see... Just hold on... Tight."

Shaw grumbled, but reluctantly complied.

And with that, Root sent them flying backwards in time.

\-----

"STOP WAVING THAT THING, MO!"

"I WILL NOT! YOU CAN'T STOP ME! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"YOU IDIOT, YOU JUST SMASHED MRS. RAFF'S VASE THAT SHE LENT ME! SHE'S GONNA--"

"MISS FREY?!"

"DAMMIT!"

\-----

Shaw slowly blinked.

Root noticed the slight amount of shock in her eyes.

"So... care to explain what all that was?" Shaw asked evenly.

"Yeah, so I _might_ be able to time-travel and take people with me..."

Shaw blinked.

"Watch."

The glass came flying towards them again. This time, however, instead of grabbing Shaw, Root caught it with one hand and threw it back at the man who threw it, who collapsed to the floor.

Root got up from her seat and crouched down next to the man, beginning to rifle through his pockets. She grunted and pulled out a badge.

"This look familiar?" she asked, holding up the badge for Shaw to see as nine of the fifteen patrons in the restaurant turned to look at her.

Shaw nodded.

Root tucked the badge into her pocket, threw a fifty dollar bill onto the table, grabbed Shaw's hand, and lead them out of the restaurant.

"Now, it's time I explain..."

\-----

"Mrs. Raff, I swear to GOD--"

"MISS FREY, I WILL NEVER BRING YOU ANYTHING OF MINE EVER AGAIN, DO YO--"

**WHAM**

"WHY DID YOU HIT HER, MO?!"

"She was bothering me..."

"WHY ME?!"

\-----

"So have you always been a slightly annoying, reclusive time-traveler?" Shaw asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.

Root rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that night. "Yes and no. I developed this weird ability to kinda see the future back in high school, which was how I rescued Hanna in time and managed to get us both out of town. Eventually it just evolved into being able to see the future, past, and travel between both."

"Huh... Weird."

Root sighed. "It's kinda hard though, since I know every single possibility, irregularity, and conclusion, and I can know just by looking at someone how they're going to die."

Shaw stopped in her tracks.

"What have you seen with me?"

Root stopped beside her. She looked at Shaw with a sad smile.

"Not natural causes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> les-be-honest

**Author's Note:**

> whoomp there it is
> 
> follow me on tumblr to get maniacal screaming updates: [ funkyfreshgod](%E2%80%9Dwww.funkyfreshgod.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)


End file.
